The prestigious Cannes Film Festival 2026 concluded its 79th edition with one of the most distributed closing galas in recent years, where the Romanian director Cristian Mungiu won the coveted Palme d’Or thanks to his powerful and impactful film “Fjord”.
Mungiu’s film investigates the cracks in the welfare state and the limits of traditional education through a family investigated by the authorities, a triumph that consolidates the Romanian filmmaker in the cinematographic Olympus after having obtained the same recognition in 2007.
The international jurychaired by South Korean filmmaker Park Chan-wook, surprised the Croisette by award several awards in equal parts.
One of the most memorable moments of the night was for Spanish cinema: Javier Ambrossi and Javier Calvo, known as “Los Javis”, won the award for Best Director for his long-awaited feature film “The Black Ball”, distinction they shared with the Polish director Paweł Pawlikowski for his work “Fatherland”.
For its part, The Grand Jury Prize went to the Russian Andrey Zvyagintsev for her harsh political criticism in “Minotauro”, while the Jury Prize recognized the German Valeska Grisebach for “The Dreamed Trot”.
In the interpretive section, theActresses Virginie Efira and Tao Okamoto shared the award for Best Actress for his roles in “Soudain”, by Ryusuke Hamaguchi.
In the category of Best Actor, the award was given jointly to Emmanuel Macchia and Valentin Campagne for the Belgian drama “Coward”. Finally, French filmmaker Emmanuel Marre won the Best Screenplay award for “Notre Salut” (“A Man of His Time”).
During the Cannes Film Festival, he awarded an Honorary Palme d’Or to Barbra Streisand, who did not attend the ceremony due to health issues. Peter Jackson and John Travolta also received these distinctions.
Complete list of winners at the 2026 Cannes Film Festival:
Feature films
Palme d’Or
“Fjord”, directed by Cristian Mungiu
Wide Prix
“Minotaure”, directed by Andrey Zvyagintsev
Award for Best Director (ex aequo)
Javier Calvo and Javier Ambrossi for “The Black Ball”
Paweł Pawlikowski for “Fatherland”
Best Screenplay
Emmanuel Marre for “Notre Salut”
Jury Prize
“Das Geträumte Abenteuer”, directed by Valeska Grisebach
Best Female Performance
Virginie Efira and Tao Okamoto in “Soudain”, directed by Ryusuke Hamaguchi
Best Male Performance
Emmanuel Macchia and Valentin Campagne in “Coward”, directed by Lukas Dhont
Short films
Palme d’Or
“For the opponents”, directed by Federico Luis
A Determined Regard
A Determined Regard Award
“Everytime”, directed by Sandra Wollner
Jury Prize
“Elephants in the Fog”, directed by Abinash Bikram Shah (Debut Film)
Special Jury Prize
“Iron Boy”, directed by Louis Clichy
Best Actor
Bradley Fiomona Dembeasset for “Congo Boy”, directed by Rafiki Fariala
Best Actress
Marina de Tavira, Daniela Marín Navarro and Mariangel Villegas for “I am always your maternal animal”, directed by Valentina Maurel
Camera d’or
Caméra d’or Award
“Ben’imana”, directed by Marie-Clémentine Dusabejambo (Un Determined Regard)
The Cinef
First Prize
“Laser-Cat” (“Laser-Cat”)directed by Lucas Acher NYU, United States
Second Prize
“Restful Voices”, directed by Nadine Misong Jin Columbia University, United States
Third Prize
“Alrig Nok” (“Never Ample”)directed by Julius Lagoutte Larsen
La Fémis, France Rising Stones, Flying Papers, directed by Roozbeh Gezerseh and Soraya Shamsi
Filmuniversität Babelsberg Konrad Wolf, Germany
Continue reading:
· John Travolta obtains the honorary Palme d’Or at Cannes and presents his first film as a director
· Guillermo del Toro re-releases “Pan’s Labyrinth” in Cannes with a powerful speech
· John Travolta will make his directorial debut at Cannes
